New olive oil testing program at UCDavis

The UC Davis Olive Center said it has launched a new testing program to provide sensory and chemical evaluation of olive oil samples, in an initiative designed to help retailers and wholesalers better ensure the quality of olive oil available to consumers.

UCD said that recent studies conducted by the Olive Center have indicated that much of the imported olive oil sold at retail stores and wholesale to restaurants is substandard.

"The new testing program will enable the Olive Center to help retailers and wholesalers correct that situation, by providing accurate chemical and sensory testing of commercial olive oils," said Dan Flynn, executive director of the center. "We look forward to confirming the high quality of many olive oils and identifying those olive oils that prove to be of substandard quality."

The testing program, which the center said it developed with olive-oil retailers and wholesale buyers, processors and importers in mind, is conducted in partnership with the UCD Analytical Laboratory. The lab will perform the chemical testing procedures.

According to UCD, the laboratory is the only analytical facility in the United States providing tests for the compounds 1,2-diacylglycerol and pyropheophytins, both standards for olive oil used in Germany and Australia.

In addition, sensory analysis will be conducted at the Olive Center by a panel of at least eight trained olive-oil tasters, UC Davis said. They will examine the olive oil samples for positive attributes such as fruitiness, bitterness and pungency, and defective attributes such as rancid, muddy, musty or vinegary characteristics. The sensory panel provides the standard analysis required by the International Olive Council as well as a full descriptive analysis of each oil sample.